Yggdrasil
by ScherzoVivace
Summary: Story inspired by Jormungand. Young Kageyama Tobio, who had known nothing but guns in his whole life, finds himself saved by a young arms dealer and her team composed of skilled soldiers. Now he walks alongside his savior, witnessing her change the world. Most Haikyuu characters are present. Intended for mature audience who enjoys a more serious, solemn content.
1. Chapter 1: This Ain't A Scene

This story was inspired by Jormungand

* * *

 **Yggdrasil**

You ask how am I neither evil nor good

I stand at the boundary, between those two.

Keep me by your side, you always should

I was born every day, I will rise tomorrow too.

I go by many epithets, Ouroboros, Chimera, Leviathan,

A monarch of the death, they even call me Dullahan

I shake the world with my mighty fist and crafty wits

Exactly the type, the one that a powerful hates

The fruits are now ripe, and no more am I standing still

Affix the lands in unison—they call me Yggdrasil.

* * *

 **Chapter 1: This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race**

* * *

It was when I was about thirteen or fourteen. I was the shortest, the youngest, and the weakest when I had met them—and her. I was hungry and wounded, wandering the streets of Serbia. I had abandoned my job as a mercenary after our unit started murdering families, including women and children, the old and the weak. It was about 36 hours of running away from my old unit after being shot once during the chase.

"Haa… haa… haa… ugh, damn it…" A boy with dark-navy, short hair and sharp eyes collapsed on to the ground with his back against a dumpster in a shady alley, breathing heavily and moaning from pain. He clenched his side with his hand. His uniform was already drenched in blood, and there were more oozing out between his fingers. Just when he was about to drift away unconscious—

"Aha, found him. Lucky~" Then, a woman stood over him, looking down. She was dressed formally, with heels and a business suit. He immediately pulled out a handgun and pointed up at her, only to be stopped in an instant by a stronger man who was by her side. Another man, a taller one with black, unruly hair and squinty eyes, had pulled out his gun also in a flash while simultaneously covering the girl with his body.

"Huh, so he still had some strength left, pretty impressive for a kiddo. Daichi, you can let him go now."

"Carefree as always, Ojou." The taller man, Kuroo, said as he grinned. He still had his gun pointed at the boy, however.

"Ojou, you almost got shot." The heavier built man said as he reluctantly moved his hands away from the boy, taking away his handgun.

"Nah, he knows better than to shoot a defenseless, pretty woman." She chuckled. "After all, a wounded animal's only defense is to intimidate with his fangs and claws without actually being able to use them."

The boy gritted his teeth. "What the hell do you want?"

"Kageyama Tobio, a used-to-be mercenary for the White Eagles, or the Avengers, until when they started relentlessly killing civilians and you just ended up running away with a bullet to your side. I can tell when I look at your eyes. You have the eyes of a tired soldier, stressed out by warfare and death." She said as she walked even closer to him with a smile on her face.

"Wh-Who the fuck are you?" He said, even more cautious and annoyed by the fact that a stranger knows his background—even the most recent ones that occurred in a warzone.

"Your savior, your new boss, and owner." She grinned and leaned forward. "In exchange for saving your life, I want you to join me. It's a pretty sweet deal considering I can help you leave this country, no harms done. Well, except for that one bullet to your side that was already there." She then held out her hand. "So, what do you say?"

Kageyama looked at her suspiciously. Of course, in this circumstance, anyone with a right mind would find this crackhead woman suspicious. They've only just met, but she's willing to take risks in saving him, who was being targeted by an entire unit of paramilitary. And not only that, she wanted him to work for her. What exactly does she do? On the contrary, does she even know what he's capable of? He studied her face carefully—but all he could make out of her expression was a carefree smile. How old was she? She doesn't look much older than him. She'd make a charming lady had he met her someplace else where it's not a warzone. He then glanced at the two men behind her, who were dressed like civilians, but had guns in their hands, ready to fire at him as soon as he caused a threat. In this case, his best interest was to blindly trust the weird lady in front of him.

"…I'll join you." He grabbed her hand ad she broke out into a wider smile, her eyes arching as well.

"I knew you'd be smart enough. You're quick to think things through. Daichi, Kuroo. Support him up." She said as she pulled out her phone and dialed a number. "Bokuto, we're ready. We're about five hundred feet east from the intersection in front of the bar. Bring everyone in the vans, we're leaving asap."

" _Yes ma'am!"_

Within a minute, three vans screeched into a stop in front of the alley, picked them up, and headed straight to the airport. They all boarded the plane and met up inside. The plane soon took off, away from the warzone.

"Oya?" A man with silver hair and black streaks that were gelled up said upon seeing the new face. "Ojou, who is this kiddo? He isn't doing so well."

"Everyone, from now on, he will be your new teammate. He'll be joining us as of today." She said as she sat down on one of the seats. "Suga, take care of his wounds."

"Got it."

"Hey, a new recruit? Nice to meet ya, I'm Noya. Nishinoya Yuu. Are you Japanese? What's your name?" A boy that looked rather young and bright to be a part of a mob with machine guns said.

"Kageyama Tobio."

"Ooooh, so he's the one you've been looking for huh, Ojou?" Noya's eyes sparkled and said.

"I told ya I'd find him." She grinned.

"I didn't get your name." Kageyama said, looking at the girl, still suspicious. Suga, a boy with a mole under his eye, was now tending to his wounds.

"Ah, how rude of me, my apologies." She said. "I'm Sera. Kurobana Sera."

"And just what are you."

"You see, I am an arms dealer. I simply sell and trade weapons, and I'm quite good at it if I must say so myself. Where there is a seed of warfare, you will see me there. Now, Tobio. You've been trained for war all your life but you hate wars. You hate weapons. But what can you do? This is your only way of survival. But you threw away your job merely 48 hours ago and now they're after your head. But do not worry, I'm here." She looked into his eyes.

"And how are you so confident that you can protect me from them?"

"Oh, trust me. They wouldn't dare attack us." Another boy with his hair shaved said. "Or else we'll have their heads. Right Ojou?"

"Ryuu, it sounds oddly villainous when you put it that way." She chuckled. "Now, Tobio. Although I asked you before to join me, I'm giving you an option to choose since you know more about my background now. It's not an easy task. It may be even more dangerous than your previous job. Either you work with us, become a part of our… family," she said, pouring a cup of juice, "or simply continue to run away. I'll at least let you off in China. You'll be able to hide nicely somewhere there. Don't worry, we're all nice people. Well, only to each other and people we like."

They all laughed.

"You'll learn more about the world when you follow me around. And of course, you'll be paid for your service, like everyone else here. It's not a bad pay either. So, what's your decision, young soldier? My world isn't much prettier than your previous one; but that's exactly why I consider you a good fit. Come with me, Kageyama Tobio. Will you walk alongside me?" After taking a gulp of the juice to show that it wasn't poisoned, she handed him the cup. Kageyama stared at the cup intently. He then took the cup, and gulped it down.

"I'll be in your care."

* * *

"Sera, 390 seconds ETA." A man with blond hair but black roots and cat-like eyes said. He was sitting in front of a desk with two other people, on their laptops, and headsets on their heads.

"Good. Kenma, put up one more satellite for a back-up communication."

"Okay." Kenma then started typing at an extremely fast speed.

The woman, with black hair, moderate height, pale skin, and a smile that seed to hide a thousand stories, rose out of a couch which was facing a huge window looking down the cityscapes of nighttime in Shanghai. She crossed her arms and looked far out into the distance, where the mountains blackened in contrast to bright city lights rested. After leaving Serbia, they reached Shanghai, where one of the many branches of Kurobana Sera's company was located. An arms dealer uses time efficiently; after setting afoot on Shanghai, the team prepared for another mission. Kageyama Tobio was left out of the mission to oversee instead of taking part, as it was impossible to synchronize with a whole team after just meeting them. He glanced over to the person who was in charge of everything.

She was definitely too young—but her swiftness and elegance in running her team weren't those of a novice. _'How much older could she possibly be? She doesn't look more than twenty, twenty-two, at most. Is she the only one running the business?'_ Questions kept on popping up in his head when he studied the girl closely. She turned around, and their eyes met. Slightly taken aback and embarrassed for staring so much, Tobio avoided her gaze, a pink blush creeping up on his cheeks.

"You seem to have a lot of questions, Tobio." She came and said, throwing an arm around his shoulders.

"N-Not really."

"Come, I have lots to tell you." She said and half-dragged him to stand in front of the windows. "What do you see, Tobio?"

"Lights."

"And where do lights come from?"

"Huh…?" He crooked his head sideways a bit. Where was she getting at?

"People in this city pay electricity bills to light up their buildings. Theoretically, resources and businesses in charge of resources are conglomerates—entities that are considered a unit and a group, but something that remain separate and distinct."

"I see." He answered. He had learned something new.

"But, here's the catch—what if I told you, there's a bigger monster behind that conglomerate? A monster so ferocious and big that even the government cannot handle?"

"A bigger… monster?"

"Yup. And what we're doing tonight—" she looked down at him, still having her arm thrown around him. Tobio looked up to face her as well. She was smiling. "Is raiding the monster."

Tobio felt a chill run down his back. It wasn't fear, but he was certainly intimidated. What made her so intimidating? Her audacity? Her determination?

"Now, Tobio. You seem like a smart kid. How will an arms dealer profit from raiding a monster that controls the electricity and water bills, assuming that the monster is monopolizing these things?" She asked. "After all, my main job _is_ selling weapons, which has nothing to do with water or electricity."

"Well, it's certainly not related directly… but you want to cut the roots that get in the way of your business." His eyes glinted, looking straight into her eyes. "Maybe they're monopolizing your location of interest."

Her smile widened. "AMAAAZING, TOBIO! I KNEW YOU COULD FIGURE IT OUT!" She full-out embraced him, burying his head into her chest, rubbing her cheeks against the top of his head. Tobio was extremely uncomfortable—and embarrassed as well.

"Please let me go, um… Sera." He said. He didn't quite settle on how he was going to call his new boss, so he went with what he first remembered.

"I'm so touched that you finally called me by my name~" She gasped and squealed. Kenma, who was in the same room, cleared his throat a little bit. "Huhu~ see Tobio, it's all a butterfly effect." She said, loosening her arms and patting his head. "Those bills build up and affect bigger things, such as taxes, government funding, mortgage… the more they charge the government and civilians for utilities, the harder it is for my clients, who happen to be both the government and civilians, to become flexible with price. The monster eats away government's money little by little, taxes rise little by little. And guess who has to pay the sales tax? It's us. Usually, if we're doing business under the table, then this wouldn't matter… but this time we are. And the majority of the taxes we pay are going to end up feeding the monster. So conclusively, we're doing this so we profit the most in the end."

"I see."

"These are the things that we deal with, Tobio. Although… it's not our top priority." She said as she walked back to the couch with Tobio. "You're still young, Tobio. You're going to grow fast, and I want you to witness the world change."

"But you're still young too, Sera." He said. At that, Sera broke out into a fit of laughter.

"It's certainly different, hearing it from a little kid. I'd always hear old men in suits say that to me. You're right, I'm young in terms of age. But in terms of experience, I wouldn't quite say so." She grinned. Tobio gulped. She really meant what she said. "And don't be too disappointed later. I'm not exactly a saint either."

"ETA 30 seconds."

"Live footage streaming… now."

The monitor resting on the coffee table lit up. A recording of one of the team members started streaming.

Deep in those mountains—

"Ojou, we're at the warehouse. It seems like they're all here." A man with blond hair tucked back with a hairband was looking through a worn-down warehouse window with a night-vision binocular. It wasn't the only thing he had, however; he also had a chest holster and harness, each pocket filled with magazines, a knife strapped to his thighs, and a thin bulletproof vest. A well-groomed sideburn ran along his ear, and he had a built that a fight no man would easily dare.

He quietly said through the in-ear transmitter, waiting for an answer.

" _Good. Now I'm leaving it up to you, Ukai-san. Do what you think fits."_

"Roger. You heard the lady. Everyone form a ring around the warehouse. Eliminate everything on sight."

" _Hey hey hey! I'm pumped!"_

" _Bokuto-san, not so loud. They'll hear us."_

"Alright, everyone move in. Suga, punch it."

"Fire in the hole~"

With a click of a button, the surrounding areas of the warehouse ended up in flames.

"Let 'em have it."


	2. Chapter 2: Glimpse

Yggdrasil

Chapter 2: Glimpse

After the "monster raid" the team members came back with no scratches. As soon as they arrived, Sera started briefing about another mission coming up after the daybreak.

"We received the payment from the government. A thirty-five million, straight into our bank accounts. Good work, everyone. You're in for bonus this month." She said and everyone cheered. "And for extra money, we'll be dealing with the mafia in town—ran by Gregor Ravinsky, they're asking us for variety of firearms and heavy weapons."

"Isn't it dangerous? Dealing with a mafia." Bokuto said boringly.

"And when was our job not dangerous? We have ourselves ten million in straight cash if we successfully confirm the exchange. We're meeting at their building, 9 o'clock in the morning. Daichi, Kuroo, Tobio will accompany me to the meeting place. Rest of you, secure the area, especially snipers. Kenma, monitor the communication channel, record everything. Clear?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Good. I'll meet you all back in nine hours."

"Kiddo, come here." As everyone was leaving the room, Kuroo called Kageyama. "Every night, we'll be rotating guards every four hours. Four guards per shift—two in front of Sera's room entrance, and two patrolling the floor. Don't worry, you don't do this every night. I'm just going to have you learn the process. But first, get some sleep. I'll wake you up when it's time for your post."

"Okay."

* * *

" _Wow dad! Can I try, can I try? Pleeeaaaasse?"_

" _Not yet, Tobio. You'll try when you grow older."_

* * *

" _DAD! WAKE UP!"_

 _Gunshots and explosions rang out—_

* * *

"Wakey, wakey." Someone then woke up Kageyama. He instantly reacted, pulled out his gun, and pointed at the stranger who approached him when he was asleep. It was Ukai. He had already spun the gun away from him, putting the safety lever back on.

"It's your turn, kiddo. Kuroo's waiting for you outside." Ukai said as he yawned, and handed the rifle to Kageyama. He got up and left the room, and waited for Kuroo outside of Sera's room. A little after, Kuroo came out of her room, which Kageyama thought was odd.

"Is she sleeping?"

"Safe and sound." He said. He then leaned against the wall right next to the door. Kageyama stood on the other side of the door and leaned on the wall as well.

"I have a question."

"Hm~?"

"Why is she selling weapons?"

"Good question. I would like to tell you but to be completely honest, she never told us."

"And you all just blindly follow her?"

"In a sense it would be blindly following. But we also know what we're up against and who we're following. In terms of treating her men, there's no greater boss than her." He said. "And plus, she's a cutie."

"…."

"But don't get too ahead of yourself. She might look and act that way, but she can get really scary. I wouldn't want to compete with her in this field. She _is_ doing a business after all."

"Business…"

"That's right… didn't you hate weapons?" Kuroo said. "But kid, once you know that everything around you is dangerous, you're gonna need them. In fact, you're going to thank them later. I thank these babies for giving me a chance to protect the princess. Perhaps it's because you don't quite have someone dear that you want to protect. You should try finding someone."

That morning—

Daichi, Kuroo, Sera, and Kageyama headed over to the meeting place. When Sera knocked on the door, a man in black suits opened up, and led them into the room, where on a sofa was a man wearing an obnoxiously bright orange Hawaiian shirt. He stood up upon seeing her and held out his hand.

"Ah, Ms. Kurobana. What a pleasure to meet you. Have a seat." He welcomed her with warm greetings and smiles and gestured over to the couch.

"Thank you, Mr. Ravinsky." She smiled and sat down across from him. "As you wished, the shipment should have arrived an hour ago. After the payment, we'll remove the guards and it'll all be yours."

"Yes, yes. I just heard from one of my men that they've arrived, top-notch quality. As expected of KLC, the service and the goods are beyond my expectations." He smiled with satisfaction. "And of course, for the payment of ten-mllion," he gestured at one of his men. "We have it ready as well."

His underling approached with a huge suitcase—he laid it on the table, and opened it—

' _What…?'_ Tobio couldn't hide his confusion. Instead of green bills, there were pouches of plastic bags—and inside were white powder. _'Drugs?'_

"Top-quality, the purest of it all. You're welcome to try out first. You'll be able to sell these for ten million for sure, and if you happen to go out to the Americas, they'll double in price." He said, lighting up a cigar.

Tobio studied Sera's facial expressions carefully, although he only could take a look at her face from the side.

"Mr. Ravinsky, where is the payment?" After a pause, she looked up from the suitcase and smiled.

"It's in front of you, Ms. Kurobana. And I was generous enough to provide you with the finest of the kind." He said, puffing the cigar. Sera merely maintained her smiling, serene face, and studied the man's face.

"Our deal was hard cash, up-front." Sera said. "If you don't have the payment, I'll be happy to hand over the goods once you have it."

"Come on~ You'll be able to get twenty-million in no time with these. It's a good deal."

"Our contract had strictly said hard cash, either US dollars or Euros."

Tension thickened in the room. Everyone could tell that Ravinsky's patience was running thin due to his eyebrows furrowing deeper and deeper.

"Take. The suitcase. Girl." He said, weight carried in his voice.

After staring at each other for good ten seconds, Sera finally pulled out her phone.

"The deal's cancelled. Secure the goods." She said.

"WHAT!" The man banged the table and shot out of his seat.

"Mr. Ravinsky. I am running a business. And businesses can't run if the conditions aren't met by both parties. I had met mine cleanly. But you haven't yours."

"What a stubborn child. You better take the payment, or else we'll have to do this the hard way."

Sera sighed. "And to think that they expect us to be a bunch of druggies… This is why I can't do business with low-level mafias."

At that, Ravinsky grabbed the ashtray on the table and slammed it down on Sera's head. Kageyama, Daichi, and Kuroo immediately pulled out their guns, pointing at Ravinsky, and in response, Ravinsky's three men in the room also pulled out their guns.

"Don't shoot." Sera said. Blood starting flowing down from her forehead.

"I didn't think we'd need the snipers I have set up, but if you insist, we can settle this with a more… rough term." He said, pulling out a walky-talky. "Ms. Kurobana. Take the suitcase. Call your men; tell them to remove the guards."

Sera reached for the packets of white powder inside the suitcase. She ripped it open—and poured it directly onto the ashtray.

"Mr. Ravinsky." She smiled—but it wasn't her serene smile. It had malice behind it. "You have made the biggest mistakes in your life today. First, you have cost the lives of you underlings, including the ones you've set up nearby to snipe me and the three in this room."

With that, the glass facing outside shattered and the three underlings that were with Ravinsky got shot down. Ravinsky flinched and shot out of his chair, frantically looking around. He then shouted on the walky-talky.

"W-Where the fuck are you, you useless shits!"

" _What the—you watch your mouth motherfucker. I'll shove this entire magazine of bullets up of your fat ass if you don't kneel in front of the lady right now."_ Tanaka's voice came through.

" _Point A clear."_

" _Point B clear."_

" _Point C clear. I think this was the last of them, Ojou."_

At the voice of someone that's not one of his underlings, Ravinsky freaked out and dropped the walky-talky, collapsing onto the floor helplessly. Sera smiled—and with blood flowing down from her forehead, it made her seem ten times more frightening.

"W-Wait. Please." Ravinsky then started stuttering, sweat trickling down his forehead.

"Kuroo." She called.

Without a second thought he aimed his gun and pulled the trigger, putting a bullet straight in between Ravinsky's eyes. After shooting, Kageyama, who was the closest to Sera, examined her wound.

"It's still bleeding." He frowned.

"No worries, it doesn't hurt much."

"But I let you get hurt…"

"Ojou…! And I tell you every single time, you always do everything without first considering how much danger you're putting yourself into…!" Daichi began, and went on and on about how Sera did everything as she pleased despite his previous warnings and lectures. Kuroo snickered and came over with a handkerchief, wiping away some of the blood.

"Alright men, we're retrieving~ Let's treat ourselves some good dinner tonight."

When they met up back at their penthouse, everyone started panicking because their boss's forehead was covered in a huge, white bandage.

"Ojou….! Your beautiful face….! I should've shot that asshole long before he even pulled out the briefcase!" Tanaka shed tears and said, clenching Sera's hand.

"Seriously, I'm okay." She laughed. "Sorry boys, it looks like ten million hard cash from a mafia sounded too good to begin with. But at least we have ourselves some time before we move onto Russia. We'll leave in 36 hours so you have until then to relax. I'm gonna take a quick nap, and I'll meet you guys back here if you want to go out for dinner at 6:30. Someone find a good place and make a reservation~"

"Yes ma'am!"

When Sera left the room, the members all relaxed, settling comfortably into the couches, turning on TV, opening up a book, magazine, and also a bottle of booze. They started chattering about which places they should visit that night for dinner, dessert, and drinks. Noya came over and threw his arm around Kageyama.

"Kiddo! How was your first experience in the team?"

"…I got her hurt." He said, feeling a little down.

"Well, it must've freaked you out when that old fart hit her. It scared the hell out of me too." Noya nodded vigorously. "But Ojou is stronger than you think!"

"I-I thought I was going to faint when I saw her bleed." Asahi said, his face turning pale from just remembering the incident.

"Asahi-san! You need to man up and handle blood better!" Noya said.

"Y-Yessir."

"GUYS! LET'S GO GET PIZZA!" Bokuto yelled loudly.

"Bokuto-san. We're in Shanghai. I think an authentic Chinese Cuisine would be more fitting."

"I kinda want burgers."

"Suga, not you too;;;"

While the conversation heated up, Kageyama slipped out of the room and headed towards Sera's room to check up on her. After all, he was hired to protect her, but he had failed her job pretty badly. When Kageyama walked down the corridor and reached Sera's room, he noticed that there was another person in her room. When he went in after two knocks, he saw Kuroo, who was standing around, and Sera, who was taking her clothes off.

"Ah, Tobio. Come in." Sera said, unhooking the bra and throwing it on the bed. Kageyama just watched expressionless although it was his first time seeing a half-naked woman; after all, it's not like he's had any experience with women. He's had to kill women with guns before, though. What he thought was odd was that Kuroo was completely okay with her changing in front of him. "…So, I want you and Kenma to go to Kazakhstan first. I've already informed HQ, so they'll give you more info on the other party when you get there." She continued her previous discussion as she put on a bathrobe.

"Sure~" He grinned. "Kiddo, did you have something you wanted to discuss?"

"Not really." He replied. "I just wanted to check if you're okay, Sera. I'm sorry I let you get hurt although I was hired to protect you." He said, getting a bit timid.

Sera cooed and tackled Tobio into a hug. "Nnngh Tobio-chan~ You have no idea how cute you just sounded right now…! But no worries, Tobio. And plus, this is only a glimpse of what we're really capable of."

"I'm not cute." Tobio frowned, squirming out of her grasp. "If you're okay, then that's good. I'm leaving. Have a good nap." He said and hurriedly left the room, slamming the door shut as he left.

"That's not fair, I said the exact same thing but you didn't call me cute." Kuroo said, crossing his arms.

"Kuroo, take a look at the mirror before saying something like that." Sera said. "You are nowhere as cute as Tobio-chan. A 14-year old versus a 24-year old saying that is a completely different thing"

"I agree. His cuteness level is beyond my reach." He chuckled, walking over to her. "But really, I'm sorry…" He then slowly wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close to him, running his thumb across her bandage with his other hand.

"Kuroo. You're getting soft." Sera said solemnly, removing his hand away from her bandages. "Don't get bothered by little things. The moment you lose professionality, I'm gonna have to cut you away. And I always tell you that attachments and relationships aren't much value to me regardless of how intimate we get."

At that, Kuroo chuckled. "I know, I know. You always tell me that. I've heard it almost too many times. Of course I'm aware of it." He leaned closer to her, his lips hovering just above hers.

"Good. I trust you to make rational decisions." She finally cracked a smile. "And plus, you fit my type almost too perfectly. It'd be a shame to have to let you go."

Kuroo chuckled then leaned in for a long, deep kiss, which Sera returned.

"So… are you going to take a nap?"

"Actually, I'm going to take a nice, warm bath first."

"Can I join?"

"Absolutely not." She said as she slid her hands underneath his shirt.


End file.
